


Busy Work

by celestial_light



Category: Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, M/M, assume most clone wars characters will appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27643919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestial_light/pseuds/celestial_light
Summary: Sha Koon kills Darth Vader, and joins the Rebellion with Anakin Skywalker.OrSha Koon did succeed in killing Darth Vader. But that didn't mean she had to take Anakin Skywalker down with him. She's a Jedi first, and the niece of a Baron Do sage second. And if the two orders could bring peace to the galaxy, why couldn't Sha bring peace to the tormented Anakin Skywalker?
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon/CC-3636 | Wolffe, Sha Koon & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	Busy Work

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I've had this idea for a long time, and finally got to writing it. Welcome to the rarest of pairs, lmao. Tell me what you think i'm oddly protective of this. More characters will appear!

She strikes with the cold fury of her saber, a clawed hand bearing down on the apparatus of bolts and lights second after. Her hand burns as thick skin comes into contact with shredded metal and the trail of molten material left by the wake of her saber. 

She bites back a hiss, all the while willing her claws to twist and pull at the wires kept secure within the black casing. Even as her hand begins to go numb from the heat and electricity, she prevails, smiling behind her mask as she tears a good chunk of wiring out. 

And though the burn is agonizing, Sha reconciles with the consequence. 

Because it will be worth it. It will be worth it if she is never able to use this hand again. It will be worth it if brainwashed clones flack her in a sea of white and black, tearing her down in a heartbeat. 

It will be worth it because before her, the Sith Lord--Vader--has fallen to his knees. Blood and oil spill as one, pooling around the man as he begins to tilt forward, slowly and slowly, his lifeforce ebbing out of him. 

_Not Yet._ Sha grits out, watching in glee as the man’s descent is halted by his limp body against her knee, _You will suffer. Just like the Jedi._

Such a conviction conjures memories Sha had kept locked away, only to draw on in her darkest moments. The plane crash, the shattered trust, the burning as oxygen and smoke filled his lungs as the glass broke, the loss of his mask, then blackness--

Months after, and Sha is still unsure of whether her uncle ended their bond directly, or if his death had done that for them. Regardless, it had left its mark. 

And the Sith will relive it all. 

The mechanical breathing hitches--and increases as the Sith realizes just what she’s doing. Her force envelopes the helmet, her will prevailing against his as pain and agony impede his control. She’s been here before, maskless and gasping for whatever air wouldn’t kill her. At least the Sith had the luxury of breathing in oxygen. Sha never had that, neither did her uncle.

But it will be short lived. _Oh,_ it will be short lived. She’ll cut right through him with her saber, ending his life. Already she grips the hilt of her illuminated blade, raising it high above her head as the helmet falls to the ground. 

She brings her saber down. 

\---

Sha recalls the first time she had lost her mask. 

She had been in the garden surrounded by other younglings. Unlike the others, though, she and her friend, Ali, a human girl with dark skin and long hair in braids had busied themselves with pulling weeds from the ground. They had infested the flower bed, and had made planting new seeds a difficult task. With the permission of the creche master, they had dedicated the entire day deweeding. 

Unfortunately for them, Ali and Sha had planted themselves in the midst of a rowdy nautolen and rodian, not realizing that they were enthralled in their game off toss. 

Though Sha realized all too soon, when the ball connected with the bottom of her mask, throwing it off and into the ground. 

It had felt like fire--at least with Sha thought fire would feel like. Everything burned. Every inhale was worse than the first, and Sha found herself frantically clawing at her neck to stop the burning. 

It had been less than 30 seconds since her mask had been removed, that it was smashed back on her face by frantic, tiny hands. 

“Oh no, Sha!” Ali had said, eyes nearly on the brink of tears as she smothered her friend with the metal, “please be okay!” Even the rodian and nautolen had abandoned their game off toss to press the mask against the small Kel Dor, the hands working together to hold the mask against her face until the creche master walked over to properly put it on. 

Despite her tear stained face and the fear of sudden death, Sha had rejoiced in the fact that such an ordeal had brought her close to her friends. Even the boys had stuck with her until the war (“Sha you’re cool! You have tusks” said Nim, the nautolan, as he followed her to the halls of healing. “Yeah, i like your beak!” Ithion had followed with. Ali said nothing of course, having complimented her friend hundred of times already). 

In her pain Sha had made friends, and bonds that lasted longer than she thought they would have. She had even gotten a surprise visit from her uncle, who’d stayed with her until she felt better. 

All-in-all, near devastation had opened her up to a new possibility of bonds. And looking at it that way had saved her from the anxiety that surrounded her mask being removed. 

\--

The blade halts above his neck, the gasping and hacking stilling her strike. The hum of the saber joins in on the anguish below, neither overpowering the other, thus making Sha painfully aware of the situation. 

A man was choking on air--

A jedi was raising a blade against a defenseless victim-

Her hands shook violently as she grappled with her choice, with her decision. Kill and revenge? Mercy and forgiveness. What Would a Jedi do? What would Plo Koon? 

And then on queue, her mind is soothed. The burden is removed from her hands, as ghostly fingers intertwine with hers, willing her to lower her blade. To choose mercy. 

_He will die, Sha. Save him, Sha._

Sha decides.

\--

No one is better at fixing and rewiring a breathing mask than the Kel Dor. Being one of the few species adverse to oxygen that ventured off world, understanding the inside and outside mechanics of a general rebreather, enough to adapt it to their unique biology, was key. 

The black, hooded helmet will not sustain him any longer. Neither will the lightning box on his chest. 

Sha gets to work the moment she boards her ship , setting her autopilot to evasive maneuvers as dead eyed, force blank clone troopers assault the hull of her transport. With the Force, she moves the man to the back, setting him on the small table and activating the medical droid. 

It bickers with her momentarily, snatching her burnt claw as she busies herself with the mechanics of his suite. She loses the battle with the machine, and relents figuring it will turn to the Sith if she just corporates. 

To her relief, she is right, and before she knows it, the droid rolls to the man on the gurney. 

The droid starts on the injuries, approaching them meticulously and with calculated movements. He attends to the unaddressed burns, removed the metal bits drilled and engraved in his body, and removes all extensions made to prolong his pain*.

Sha works alongside the machine, her attention directed towards a mask of her own, measuring the Sith’s face and head so that she can construct a proper fit, eyes going back and forth between the monitor and his body just to see how deeply she will need to implant her device. 

  
His lungs cannot function without assistance, thus his breathing will need to be assisted for the rest of his life. Sha nods as this is relayed to her by the droid, waving her hand as the machine disputes her intent to remove the current pieces left over by the suit. 

There will be no trace of the Sith Lord, she will weed it all out.

She’ll replace it with something new. Something better. Something that will flourish like daisies in a garden. Something that’s already there, but needing to be tended to. 

Sha works for forty eight hours straight, only pausing to test the efficiency of her new product on the man sleeping on the table. Only when he could survive only on her device and without the assistance of the droid, does Sha waiver. The droid rushes to her side, but is once again dismissed by a wave of her taloned hand. 

She had tended to his physical body, the absence of metal and darkness leaving a very young man who had obtained very serious injuries. They had fit him with his prosthetics, and placed the mask over his nose and mouth, leaving his face free and expressive.

Though he bears a rather pained expression, his brows knitted in a restless state. 

Sha isn’t the least bit surprised. He exists in the dark, and such a path is riddled with despair. Sha would know, she walked it for months. Nothing can grow there, nothing can flourish. 

But if Sha can walk away at the crux of the Light and the Dark, then he can too. 

She’ll pick out the darkness from him, bit-by-bit, until there is nothing left but room for growth. 

And with practiced breaths, Sha Koon inhales deeply, centering herself with the Living Force just as her uncle had taught her. With ease she places two taloned hands on the side of the man’s head, gently melding her force with his, asking passage from his structured walls. 

This is a technique of the Baron Do.

No Jedi believed in making peace with the Dark, or asking it permission. Only destroying and conquering it. The sages believe differently--believe that Darkness was another side to Light, and thus both could exist equally. 

Even in her self imposed exile, Sha Koon often loved to speak to her uncle about his knowledge as a Baron Do Sage. It deeply contrasted what she had learned in the temple, but she ate it up like candy. Still, keeping in touch with him had been near impossible. Whether he lived in the sky with his men, or occupied himself with the scar faced commander of the 104th on the ground, finding him in the war had been hard. 

Her uncle was a war hero, a living ancestor. She interacted with him amongst holos, word of mouth, and glimpses. There were very few times since the war started had he truly been able to just be her uncle. 

Yet, had the war ended naturally, her uncle would have taken both she and Wolffe to Dorin. She to become a sage, and then to return to her mother. The commander though, Sha was unsure. The nature of their relationship was an enigma to her--still is. But it harmed neither, and as a result she gave no attention to it. 

Sha returns to the present, asking the Darkness to let her in. Gently. The Darkness has never been asked, it has never been shown kindness, it has _never_ been treated with humanity. But Sha extends all the grace her Sage of an uncle told her, letting the darkness bring her to the beginning--

To the hot deserts of tatooine--

To the glee that practically erupted when the ‘angel’ greeted him, a smile brighter than the sun.

To the anger that bubbled under his skin as he proclaimed defiantly: “I’m a person, and my name is Anakin-”

\--

This process takes twenty four hours as she and Anakin grapple with the darkness in his head, as they fight through the regret, as they prevail through the despair, and make peace with what cannot be changed. 

It is busy work. And she follows him mainly as a guide, sifting through his memories with him to change the darkness, to work through it. There is not changing it now, just converting it, just accepting it. 

It will always be a part of Anakin Skywalker. There is no need to remove it.

\--

When she comes to, her hands no longer remain at the side of Skywalker’s head. Rather he holds hers in his, staring deeply at her with bright green eyes. *

“Welcome back, Master Skywalker.” She greets behind her mask.

**Author's Note:**

> *I read somewhere that the suit had caused more pain that necessary, and that Anakin was in constant pain after his turning to Vader.  
> *Anakain’s eyes are green because that’s a mix of blue and yellow, this the dark and the light side.


End file.
